Native trees

Native trees

Fri Dec 10, 2010 5:55 pm

Ok Here it goes I am looking to plant several trees in early spring accually sapplins running around 30 inches. There are 2 bundles of trees I am looking atThe first bundle consists of the following trees.

This particular bundle is suppose to produce all edible fruits. I know that some vareties such as the persimmon requires a male and female to produce fruit is this true of any of the other species listed?

The second bundle consists of the following trees

Shellbark hickory, Pecan, Hazelnut, Black walnut, and Butternut.

do any of these require male female to produce and are all of these nuts eddible?

Both these tree bundles come with 5 of each type of tree. yes I am aware that is 75 trees but I have 2 acers and my son has 2 acers right next door and my daughter has 5 acers about a mile down the road.

I do plan on planting all the seedlings on my property to start with then see if any die or have other issues then I will thin out the excess to my children. I figure 75 full grown trees might be a bit much for 2 acers.

I allso have a blackberry plant that appeared several years ago in our Tree line/ Wind break on the rear of the property it has managed to survive but has never done very well rather than bringing in more black berrys I am considering moving the exsisting black berrys to a more sunny and easier to water part of the property should this be an issue or is fine to move a full size plant of this type?

trees

Wed Dec 15, 2010 9:19 am

I see that your from Missouri, does it snow during the winter at your house? The best time to plant those seedlings would be right now as long as you don't have snow on the ground. If it does snow where you are, it is best to plant them as soon as the snow melts, typically before buds break and leaves begin to grow. A question I have for you is why you want to plant so many trees? There are many other things you can grow, like vegetables, shrubs, sunflowers, etc. With the amount of space you have, you have endless possibilities of things you can grow. If I were you, I would draw a blue print of what I wanted my yard to look like before just planting a bunch of random trees. Add some walkways, some sitting areas, benches, etc. You could even have a couple benches surrounded by Japanese maples cascading over the waterfall/river you have created. My point is, some people would do anything to have a large property, so make the best of it. Last but not least: Personally, I try to rid my yard of blackberries completely. They are invasive, they always to to stick you with their thorns, they multiply fast, and they are nearly impossible to get rid of. I hope this helps.

He said he is doing a tree nursery to start trees for himself, son, and dtr, total 9 acres. That's not too many trees for 9 acres and still have plenty of room for all that other stuff ... My total city lot is 1/3 of acre including the house. I am working on turning the back half of it into a native woodland plant garden, with a teeny little pocket "woods." So far I have planted 20 trees back there and plenty of room for more as I get it cleared of the shrub honeysuckle that is there....

PawPaw and all nut trees are usually described as needing 2 or more trees to reproduce. Some nut trees *can* reproduce alone but better production is obtained with multiple trees. I think they produce male and female flowers but need to cross pollinate.

With persimmons, some trees only produce female flowers while others are predominantly female but will also produce male flowers on the same tree. Most recommend planting the bi-sexed variety with other varieties. (I'll dig up the link when I can). Bi-sexed variety can reproduce by itself.

As I understand it, nut trees and PawPaw grow long taproot and are very difficult and averse to being transplanted. You may want to reconsider about planting them all on your property first.

I understand Hickory and Pecan trees have open growth habits and canopy and can be planted near gardens (Butternut may fit in the same category but I'm not familiar with Butternut.). Black walnut needs to be kept AWAY.

Hazelnut is more of a shrub and will form a colony/patch, as will PawPaw. You might consider these along with the first bundle trees/shrubs for a mixed hedgerow.

Chokeberry, Black Cherry, and Red Mulberry, and to some extent, Serviceberry, are edible but are said to be more suited for wildlife. It's a good idea to grow a wildlife attracting hedgerow AWAY from your more desirable berries so they'll go eat their own berries.

Currant is an alternate host of a kind of disease that affects pines that I can't remember right now (I can't grow currants and gooseberries because I live very close to the NJ Pine Barrens). Serviceberry is related to apples and pears and are subject to similar diseases including fireblight and cedar-apple rust (cedar is alternate host).

I agree with the assessment of wild blackberries in terms of prickliness. I'm replacing my wild blackberries with a thornless cultivar. But if you have the room and these produce really delicious berries, I think maintaining a patch in out of the way area is a great idea. There's a thread about how to keep them in bounds -- I remember fencing and using goats to eat down the stray shoots as the best natural solution and lawnmower as the easiest mechanical solution.

I can't speak to any but the chokecherry, but my parents had chokecherry bushes in their yard (I remember going to a stand out in the country to dig them up for transplanting over 40 years ago). My mother made the BEST chokecherry syrup from them every year. She also made a compote with them for pancakes (mixed berries in that). We couldn't ever come up with another good way to use them (they really are VERY tart), but that syrup was worth growing the bushes. Think about the super sour candies you can find everywhere these days - that's a fresh, unsweetened chokecherry effect. Serious pucker! But a wonderful, unique flavor.

They are also a fairly pretty bush. They would periodically cut down the largest/oldest wood to keep them from getting too tall for the spot where they had them, but I don't know if that would be necessary in a more open landscape.

Sorry for not reponding sooner.. Christmas, Frozen pipes more pc work then I can handle right now. I have read all the posts and am considering all options. and yes we do get snow this time of year but not usually more than a few inches and that only last a few days at the most.

Drawing up a blue print or layout is definatley in the plans, Haven't made any commitments to trees yet just keep in all options open and leaning heavily towards native plants I was amazed at the variety of flower alone that are considered native but I have time to come up with a plan

[quote="Odd Duck"]I can't speak to any but the chokecherry, but my parents had chokecherry bushes in their yard (I remember going to a stand out in the country to dig them up for transplanting over 40 years ago). My mother made the BEST chokecherry syrup from them every year.